The invention relates to a windshield wiper device, in particular for a motor vehicle, comprising at least one wiper shaft.
Nowadays, high requirements are being placed on windshield wiper devices with respect to pedestrian impact protection. No parts that represent a risk of injury to the pedestrian may project from the vehicle. For this reason, there are windshield wiper devices with predetermined breaking points so that the windshield wiper device yields from the danger zone in an impact with a pedestrian. The predetermined breaking points are provided in an area of an attachment between a wiper bearing and a vehicle body. The disadvantage of this, however, is that the predetermined breaking points lie in the main load area of the wiper bearing, thereby also stressing the predetermined breaking points during wiper operation. The strength and the rigidity of the predetermined breaking points depend upon the material properties and the manufacturing process as well as upon their geometric design. Thus, for example, the composition of the alloy and the injection parameters cause a considerable dispersion of the strength and rigidity values, because of the formation of voids and the like. As a result, there is a risk that should not be disregarded that the predetermined breaking point will already fail during wiper operation, thereby causing the windshield wiper device to break down. In addition, in the case of a pedestrian impact, it is not possible to guarantee that the predetermined breaking points will rupture.